Rebuilding the Scuba Industry Insurance help or destruction?

In this final article in the Rebuilding the Scuba Industry series, we will look at insurance.

 

Insurance Facts:

• With very few exceptions in the world, all divemasters and instructors must carry liability insurance in order to be current and operate with their training agency.
• With very few exceptions, we cannot rent a public pooL without liability insurance.
• Insurance companies protect us from financial ruin in a catastrophic incident.
• For a store, charter company or independent instructor, we are foolish to even think of operating without liability insurance.

 

As instructors and divemasters, we are the customers of the insurance company.

 

I think we can all agree on the above facts.

 

Here is another fact: The cost of our purchasing insurance has skyrocketed over the past few years. Yes, the insurance companies will have paid out some settlements. But they have also realized massive profits, according to many public records. So why are the rates so overwhelmingly high?

 

More Facts:

• Many instructors must pay their own insurance. Even when the facility they work for has liability insurance, it is still best if you have their own independent insurance.
• We are losing lots of instructors and divemasters because they simply cannot afford to pay the insurance.

 

Why is it that a diver or discover scuba candidate cannot sign a liability waiver and have it stand up in court? Is that not the purpose of that waiver?

 

When did it become ok for people not to be responsible for their own actions? Especially a certified diver. They did take and pass the course!

 

I am certainly not a lawyer or even a legal expert, but here is a statement to consider. If a person wants to learn to scuba dive and we cannot teach them without insurance and cannot afford to get the insurance, is that not the death of our industry?

 

As the customer of both the insurance company and the training agency, should they not both be concerned that the costs/prices of belonging to both are literally collapsing the industry?

 

Perhaps someone wiser than me can come up with a plan. We would love to hear your thoughts!